The minister, who spoke to journalists after participating at the signing of updated Abuja commitment on polio eradication at the Presidential Villa, said the Federal Government had concluded arrangement to set up 10,000 primary health care centres across the 109 senatorial districts in the country to tackle the disease.
According to him, the first 5,000 centres would be established this year, starting with Fika community in Borno State, where the disease was first discovered.
He said: “We inaugurated a Lassa Fever eradication committee chaired by one of the foremost virologists in this country and we are committed to signing Lassa Fever’s obituary this year.
“What we want to do is put across some innovative funding mechanisms, ability to manage and put to use 10,000 primary health care centres across the country over the next two years.”
Meanwhile, government has inaugurated a Multi-sectoral Committee on Lassa Fever Eradication.
President of the Nigeria Academy of Science, Professor Oyewale Tomori, is Chairman of the 19-man committee, while the Director of the National Centre for Diseases Control, NCDC, Professor Abdusalami Nasis is the Secretary.
Inaugurating the committee in Abuja during the Emergency National Council of Health on the Lassa Fever Outbreak, Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, also announced the designation of six additional diagnostic centres for Lassa Fever, bringing the centres to 12.
The first six centres are University Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State; Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano State; Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo State; University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State; Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, and NCDC laboratory in the FCT.
The additional six are to be situated in the highly-infected states of Bauchi, Niger, Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa and Ondo.
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